NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: EAST NEW YORK

NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: EAST NEW YORK; Following Southampton's Lead: Fighting an Incinerator

By MICHAEL COOPER

Published: July 23, 1995

After the town of Southampton, L.I., turned down an energy company's plan to build an incinerator near the Pine Barrens, the company set its sights on East New York. Now residents and city officials are trying to force the company to look elsewhere again.

"I don't like it," said James Saunders, who lives a few blocks from 895 Essex Street, where the Atlas Bio-Energy Corporation wants to build a wood-burning incinerator to generate electricity.

"A lot of what nobody wants is dumped on us," he said. "Now the neighborhood is trying to come back. I'm sure that if people find out they're building an incinerator here, they won't buy houses here."

Borough President Howard Golden agrees. "Far too often, low-income and minority communities, such as East New York, have historically not been afforded the same level of environmental review and protection as wealthier communities," Mr. Golden said last month at a meeting of environmental agencies, neighborhood groups and elected officials.

Mr. Golden contends that the incinerator would release noxious gases in a neighborhood filled with public housing projects, day care centers and senior citizen's centers. Atlas Bio-Energy Corporation officials declined to comment last week.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation originally cleared the way for the East New York incinerator in March, when it ruled that Atlas did not need to submit a report assessing the project's environmental impact. Amid strong objections by elected officials, the state agency agreed to turn the project over to the city Department of Environmental Protection.

"We are now completing our review of the application," said Marilyn Gelber, the commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection. "I will very shortly be making the decision on whether or not the project requires an E.I.S."

Should an impact statement be required, a series of public hearings and a lengthy review process would be necessary.

Block associations on Wyona, Pine and Logan Streets are also working to stop the project. "East New York has enough trouble with crime and poor people," said Carmen Carrillo, the treasurer of the Logan Street block association. "They should build this near the Governor's mansion." MICHAEL COOPER